An ex-rugby league player who thought a 15-year-old boy had bullied his son left him with terrible injuries after a brutal attack.

Cole Olverson was knocked unconscious, suffered a broken nose and was left covered in blood after the assault by 48-year-old former Leigh Centurion Vila Matautia

The ex-Samoan international admitted a charge of assault causing actual bodily harm at an earlier hearing - he walked free from court today after receiving a seven-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that Matautia said he battered Cole because he bullied his son, who was in a lower year at school.

Judge Steven Everett said there was no direct evidence of bullying, so it was important that Cole was not criticised in any way, reported the Liverpool Echo .

He told Matautia: "I'm quite prepared to accept that you genuinely believed your son had been bullied and that either the complainant Cole Olverson or one of his friends was the person who had bulled your son.

READ MOREManhunt for would-be assassin after former Sale man is shot in Amsterdam"I'm quite prepared to accept that because from what I've heard about you, you wouldn't have carried out this attack unless there was this genuine belief.

"But the first thing it is important to say, whether there was this genuine belief or not, is this isn't the way to deal with things.

Cole Olverson suffered several injuries to his face"You don't take the law into your own hands, which is what you did. You're a strong powerful man. He is a 15-year-old boy.

"It was inevitable who was going to come out the worse and that is what happened.

"You repeatedly punched him to the face. I hope you've seen those injuries and seen what you did to that boy."

Cole was stood with friends behind the Golden Lion pub in Church Road, Rainford at around 4.35pm, on December 4 last year.

Liverpool Crown Court heard he received a Snapchat message from Matautia's son, asking where he was, but did not respond.

Vila Matautia outside Liverpool Crown Court. (Image: Liverpool Echo)Matautia then walked down the side of the pub towards him and Cole, who did not know who he was, asked "are you alright?"

The boy said he was knocked unconscious and when he came to, was aware Matautia had hit him around five more times.

He said Matautia stood over him and said "you're a bully" and when asked why, replied: "If I find you've done anything again, I will cut you."

Matautia got out his phone as if to take a photo of the boy lying on the ground. His son was also spotted in the area.

Cole suffered a fractured nasal bone, a cut to his nose, plus bruising to his forehead, left cheek and jaw. He still struggles with breathing.

Cole Olverson was left covered in blood after the attack (Image: Liverpool Echo)Matautia, of Laurel Road, St Helens, was arrested but lied to police during his first interview, claiming he wasn't at the scene.

His mobile phone showed he was and when interviewed again, he said he went there to speak to the boys about bullying.

He claimed another boy pulled a knife on him, that he hit it out of the male's hand and then punched Cole once, in self-defence.

READ MOREParents of murdered teenager Liane Singleton urge government to keep her killer in jailMatautia was part of the Saints side which won Super League, Challenge Cup and World Club Challenge honours in the 1990s and 2000s. He later played for Leigh Centurions.

Tom Watson, defending, said the prop forward, who has a caution for battery in March 2002, led "a rather exemplary life".

He said he was "sorry", adding: "He feels a deep sense of shame and quite frankly, he also feels a deep sense of embarrassment.

"He is not normally a person who would behave in this way. He knows as well as distressing and upsetting for this young man, he has made a spectacle of himself.

"That is not the way this man ordinarily lives his life and it's not the way he is going to behave in the future."

A probation report assessed Matautia, who now works as a self-employed plasterer, as having a low risk of re-offending.